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Scan 24
The violinist, 1900
18 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
11905; the performers numbered 700. The second was given in the Royal Albert Hall, the third and the fourth in the Alexandra Palace. Readers familiar with the concert halls of London will recall the huge proportions of these places, some of them historic in music.
3The writer of this article was able to be present at the Festival given in the Crystal Palace, July 16, 1910. In the afternoon there were 2,500 boy and girl players; in the evening the advanced class of 2,000 performers played—4,500 in all. At the Festival in June, 1912, no less than 6,000 players participated.
5A Festival Rehearsal
7At the performance in 1910, the occasion of the present writer's visit, the conductor had in front of him a table upon which was installed a telephone connected with different parts of the orchestra. In addition to this he freely used a megaphone to give instructions. In such a huge area—the platform was built years ago to accommodate the Handel Festival Chorus of 1,000 or more voices with a correspondingly large orchestra—it was useless, evidently, for the conductor to try to make himself heard by merely shouting. Assistants, therefore, were placed here and there and furnished with a telephone receiver. By these means the conductor secured control of his forces. Each child had a colored and numbered ticket of admission to the orchestra, and for a whole hour they came trooping in, in charge of a teacher, and were straightway taken to their allotted places. Each music stand was screwed to the staging, a necessary precaution, and to the rack of each was fixed a large piece of colored cardboard upon which was printed a number. There was no confusion and no delay. These children had traveled miles from various parts of London. Special trains in some instances were chartered. It was a unique sight to see the detraining of hosts of little instrumentalists who instantly and without orders from the person in charge formed into double lines, and with a brisk step marched away in true military boy—and girl—scout fashion to the concert room. The present writer remarked upon this orderliness to an official, whereupon the information was given that the County Council considered the matter of transporting masses of children here and there as being as important as fire drill. Hence, one is not surprised to read that in May of this year 400 scholars were taken from London to Paris and back again without a single accident.
9The time having arrived for the commencement of the rehearsal (the concert took place one hour later) the conductor, Mr. Allen Gill, rapped for attention and shouted "tune," whereupon the organist, with all the Great and Solo organ 8 and 4 feet stops drawn, reed and flute, played an A of fifty horse power intensity.
11Immediately, every performer began to tune. Then came D and more tuning; then G, which had a job to make itself heard even when played by 2,500 children, so powerful was the organ. Finally, the E was sounded, and of all the curious, indescribable sounds which came from the violins the writer of this sketch never heard the like. "It was to laugh" and laugh again to see the children as busy as a colony of ants tuning (and breaking) the E string. Here and there one could see a player suddenly dive for his violin case; out would come a new string, and with alacrity it would be adjusted, plucked, bowed, plucked again, bowed again; the peg would be screwed up a little more and all this notwithstanding that the orchestra was playing away with fervor.
13Conducting Without a Coat
15The afternoon was warm, very warm, and as a consequence the conductor's temperature rose in strict accord with the rising of the thermometer. His exertions added a few additional degrees until in desperation he took off his coat—sensible man—being careful when doing so to extract his pocket handkerchief from it—a sub-conscious action surely.
17A little later, during the playing of one piece, the conductor stopped, put down his stick, folded his arms, sat down. Evidently something was wrong. A few children ceased playing, then a few more of the 2,500 caught a sight of the conductor and they stopped. But up in one far corner a group of dolls (they looked more like dolls than anything else so far away were they) played on unmoved by the attitude of the
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